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Chicago Public Schools Bailout Vetoed

12/2/2016

When lawmakers came to agreement this past June on a temporary stop-gap budget, one component of that budget included $215 million for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to pay Chicago teachers’ pension. In approving the measure, the governor and four legislative leaders agreed that funds would only be allocated once comprehensive pension reform was reached after the November election, which was the request of Democrat leaders. It was in the spirit of this agreement that Senate Republicans supported this approach.

Unfortunately, Democrats denied this week that such an agreement ever existed and presented SB 2822 to the governor for this approval. By breaking their agreement, the governor had no other choice than to veto the measure, thereby denying CPS the $215 million in funds.

It is time for the games to stop, and it is time to put Illinois on the right fiscal track.